Courtesy Mark Elpers
LEFT: Knights of St. John members, from left, Leon Wilderman, Steve Luigs and Greg Martin help prepare the food for the organization's annual Mother's Day dinner.

Courtesy Mark Elpers
100_1077: Knights of St. John members, from left, Dan Schmitt, Chris Herr,
Mitch Happe, Jim Seibert and Damon Anslinger chat while setting up a
temporary bar for the 2008 bierstube. All the members pitch in to help run
the event.

The Knights of St. John home as it looked during the renovation project, which included replacing all the paneling, ceilings, lighting, flooring, removing some interior walls, exterior paint and much more.

The Knights of St. John "home" in St. Wendel recently underwent a complete renovation.

Courtesy Mark Elpers.
Egg hunt: Children race into the field at the Knights of St. John home in
St. Wendel to search for eggs in the organization's annual Easter Egg Hunt.

Courtesy Katharine McKinney
Board members of the Knights of St. John hold plaques commemorating past presidents and Knight of the Year award winners. From left are Mark Elpers, Kelly Crowder, Steve Luigs, Bud Elpers, Jerry Knapp, Jim Baehl, and Brian Koester.

Courtesy Mark Elpers
RIGHT: Members and guests line up for the buffet at the Knights of St. John home on Mother's Day this year. The club hosts a Mother's Day meal each spring.

Courtesy Katharine McKinney
Sign Welcoming people to Knights of St. John

Courtesy Katharine McKinney
Knights of St. John Commandery No. 282 President Kelly Crowder, standing at left, and Bud Elpers , in striped shirt, chat with Mark Elpers, at center with briefcase, and members of the St. Anne's Auxillary on a recent afternoon in St. Wendel. The St. Wendel chapter is the largest Knights of St. John organization in Indiana.

Courtesy Mark Elpers.
The crowd packs the backyard of the Knights of St. John home in St. Wendel for the 2008 bierstube. The St. Wendel Bierstube is held every July and is a major fundraiser for the organization. Beer, food, live music and socializing make the 'stube a popular event, and Knights members have developed the area behind their home to accommodate the crowds. In addition to the large pavilion, the Knights have laid down gravel walking areas and refurbished outdoor bathrooms. The pavilion includes a stage for live music.

Courtesy Mark Elpers.
Bierstube patrons pack the dance floor under the
pavilion at the 2008 event.

Knights of St. John members help spread concrete while building the floor of the pavilion erected behind the Knights of St.
John home in St. Wendel. The pavilion was built to better serve the functions and events of the organization, particularly the annual bierstube.

For visitors who drive through, St. Wendel looks like any other small farming community in Southern Indiana.

Cornfields run right up to the town limits. The handful of tree-lined streets soon give way to horse fences, silos and barns.

But there is something special about St. Wendel. It's home to a chapter of an ancient religious organization, The Knights of St. John, which traces its roots all the way back to Jerusalem in the year 1088, when the order was made up of crusading noblemen pledged to chastity, good works and warfare for the Christian cause.

Today, the Knights of St. John serve less dramatic purposes. They are a benevolent society whose chapters are aligned with the Catholic Church and whose missions are those of charity, good works and, if not warfare, then welfare in the Christian cause.

In few places are those marching orders met with more enthusiasm than St. Wendel, where Knights of St. John Commandery No. 282, founded in 1924, has grown to more than 300 members. It is the largest Knights of St. John commandery in Indiana and the second largest in the world.

Unlike their Medieval brethren, who made their names with swords and shields, the members of 282 are known for their hospitality. To raise the funds for charitable efforts, the St. Wendel Knights host a popular summer bierstube, German-style fried chicken and dressing dinners and Lenten fish fries. The events are often held at their compound in St. Wendel, which includes a newly-remodeled "home," a roomy, well-appointed clubhouse big enough to host sizable wedding receptions and dances.

"Being active in the special fundraisers, where you donate your effort and time, and it's a success ... it makes you feel rewarded," said Bud Elpers, president of Commandery No. 282's board of directors and a member since the late 1950s. "You can feel you helped people. One of the main goals of our organization is to help people."

Though their mission is lofty, the St. Wendel Knights and their auxiliary unit, St. Annes, are notably down to earth. They enjoy the fun and fellowship the club offers. The Knights have an event almost every weekend, usually a wedding reception in their hall. The men fry the chicken, the women cook the dressing and sides.

"It's something we all enjoy doing or we wouldn't do it ... seeing the people how pleased and satisfied they are. That's where I get a little bit of joy," says Jerry Knapp, 16-year veteran of the Knights and board member.

The Knights are passing down that solid "Dutch" work ethic to the younger generation as well by recruiting the Boy Scout troop they sponsor, Troop No. 393, to help with the legwork.

"The bierstube wouldn't be successful without the Boy Scouts" said Mark Elpers, who has chaired the event for the last four years. The annual bierstube, which draws thousands of people, requires work from "morning to 2 a.m. for five days straight" said board member Brian Koester, who has been a Knight for 10 years. The Scouts help set up, tear down and bus tables.

"They are a godsend," said Jim Baehl, who has managed the bar at the St. John's home for the last two years.

The bierstube is the commandery's most popular event. Besides the requisite beer garden, the 'stube features chicken dinners, live music from local and regional bands, a family area and plenty of social time.

The Germania Mannerchor's Rhine Valley Brass and the Good Time Accordian Band are frequent performers, but the crowds really turn out for the country and college rock bands that play later in the evening. Members say as many as 1,500 to 2,000 people, some driving from as far as 100 miles away, come to the bierstube to feast and dance and drink, all in the name of charity.

Bierstube profits help Commandery No. 282 support 20 different organizations every year. The causes range from St. Jude Children's Hospital in Memphis and Ronald McDonald Houses to holiday fruit baskets for shut-ins to donations to community sports teams. The St. Wendel Knights' pet project is the Marian Educational Outreach, formerly Marian Day School, for whom they hold a golf scramble that raises about $6,000 annually. The Marian Educational Outreach is a ministry within the Catholic Diocese of Evansville that provides "more services for children with unique learning needs within the 28 parochial schools in the district," said the program's director Beverly Williamson, who is full of praise for the work the Knights do.

"We are celebrating our 50th anniversary this year, and the Knights have been supporting us almost as long as we have been in existence," she said. "It has been a long, rich partnership. They are the most loyal, consistent supporters we have. I don't think there has been an organization that has provided more support to our organization and our students than the Knights."

Each member of the Knights has their own reason for joining and staying active, but it's the sense of community and belonging that seems to draw people in the most. Some members who have moved away from the Tri-State continue to pay their dues to the St. Wendel commandery to maintain the ties that bind them to their Southwestern Indiana roots. Traditions that could be lost with the passage of time are passed down from one generation of Knights to the next.

Commandery No. 282 President Kelly Crowder has been a member since about 1981 and has enjoyed "learning from the older people."

"I like watching how thrifty they are," he said. "They grew up in a different time ... they didn't have anything."

Bud Elpers echoes the sentiment and is glad the organization helps to preserve tradition.

"Years ago it was mostly all people of German heritage. They have their old ways of cooking their dressing and they don't go far away from there," he said. "It's amazing. The people drive out from different areas just to eat the navy beans and sauerkraut we serve."

Elpers is pleased that the organization continues to grow as the younger generation of Catholics step up to the plate.

"We've had a lot of new young people become interested in it again, donating a lot of time and effort," he said. "All organizations become stagnant for a little bit, but this new group of people stepped in, and there is a lot going on again."

Knapp hopes to see the even more ancient ways of the Knights preserved, the prayers and uniforms and rituals that set the Knights apart as a holy order.

"Some of that stuff is being lost," he said. "I can blame it on us older guys for not passing it on ... the special rituals that were required years ago. The rituals at our meetings are more lackadaisical that they used to be. Some of it has been diluted. I'm not knocking the younger members, but they might see it as a little silly."

Prayer is still the foundation of their meetings and strongly encouraged to be performed by the members to aid in their purpose of giving.

For those interested in joining the Knights on their mission of mercy and preservation there is but one requirement: you have to be Catholic. The Order is not governed by the diocese and is independent from any particular Catholic church. "Anybody Catholic is more than welcome to join," Koester said. "You don't have to be in the neighborhood ... just drive a little way."